Review Summary

Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the strapping hero/heroine of the silly, quasi-inspirational British comedy "Kinky Boots," is the very model of a modern movie drag queen. Flamboyantly confrontational but tenderhearted under her brass, Lola embodies a cross-dressing archetype that is sashaying ever closer to the center stage of pop mythology. She arrives just in time to be the 21st-century replacement for that poignant outcast from an earlier era, the whore with a heart of gold. In "Kinky Boots," the tale of a failing men's shoe factory in the dreary Midlands that saves itself from ruin with the drag queen's help, Lola's being black lends her an extra layer of alienation and insight into oppression, which automatically translates into an extra layer of nobility. The versatile Mr. Ejiofor ("Dirty Pretty Things," "Inside Man"), seizing his opportunity, gnaws on this meaty role like a ravenous dog. Directed by Julian Jarrold, the film is said to be based on a true story. But that doesn't guarantee truthfulness. The facts, whatever they may be, have been beaten into a formulaic, feel-good movie, riddled with plot holes, that has the shape of a ready-made musical. — Stephen Holden